Inside Gary Bradberry's Improbable 1994 ARCA Race at Flat Rock Speedway

April 05, 2023 09:00

Inside Gary Bradberry's Improbable 1994 ARCA Race at Flat Rock Speedway

It was a one-in-a-million night, where a confluence of circumstances turned one of Gary Bradberry’s worst nightmares into one of his best memories.

The teams of the ARCA Menards Series had gathered in southeastern Michigan for the first of two annual stops at the series’ home track, Flat Rock Speedway. Bradberry and his team arrived on Friday night after making the trip from his home in Chelsea, Alabama, ready to get a good night’s sleep for a busy day at the track on Saturday.

The next morning, one of the members of Bradberry’s called him in his hotel room around 7 A.M.

“Where is the hauler?” was the question. Bradberry hadn’t moved it. He thought it was a joke. But it quickly went from prank to a serious situation, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment – literally everything he owned - missing.

Bradberry had committed to competing for the ARCA Menards Series championship and rookie of the year honors. The short track ace had a strong late model background in the southeast, and after a slow start to the season at Daytona, where he finished 41st after getting wrapped up in a lap 5 crash, he rebounded nicely, and had scored his first career pole and win at Five Flags Speedway. So hopes were high for Bradberry and team once the Midwestern short track swing kicked off in the late spring and carried on throughout the summer.

Bradberry thought it was all over in that moment. His racecar, spare engines, and all of his equipment had all vanished. And on top of that, whoever took his rig left in such a hurry that they damaged the hotel where the team was staying, and the owners were looking at Bradberry and his team to pay for it.

Not knowing where they were going to stay or how they were going to get home, all they could do is wait. The police had been called, but hopes weren’t too high that they’d ever find the truck much less all of the equipment inside.

But a couple of hours later, the police called him back with news. The truck had been found and was being held in an impound yard.

From there, it was a whirlwind of activity. The truck had been trashed, but thankfully the thieves never attempted to open the trailer. All of the equipment inside, including the car, was no worse for the wear. But there was a flat tire on the trailer that needed to be fixed, and the clock was still ticking. Practice at the track was about to start and Bradberry was just now picking up his rig.

They arrived at the track with a few minutes of practice remaining, and ARCA officials gave them a few laps to shake the car down, just enough to diagnose any problems but not enough to work on the setup. Qualifying was up next, and Bradberry timed in 17th out of the 21 cars on hand. It would be a long road to the front if he was going to have a chance to win.

Once the race went green, Bradberry quickly realized he had a car that could go to the front. He used the outside lane, which can be tricky on the tight quarter-mile confines at Flat Rock, and quickly found himself in the top ten. Then he found himself in the top five. And then, with 32 laps remaining, he worked past Dave Weltmeyer to take the lead. Weltmeyer was one of the best on short tracks in the ARCA Menards Series at the time, and passing him for any position was tough, much less the lead late in the race. But Bradberry wasn’t going to be denied.

“It wasn’t the greatest in practice but once the race started it was great on the outside,” he said in victory lane. “I got a call at seven this morning from a guy on the crew asking where the truck was. Once I figured out it wasn’t a joke, we knew the truck was stolen and we called the police. They found the truck today around noon in Detroit. The trailer was damaged, they ran over a car and hit a pole, but we are glad to get our stuff back, and we won the race. What else could you ask for?”

From there, just 32 minutes and 42 seconds after the green flag, it was clear sailing to Hank Wetzel’s checkered flag. It was his second win of the season, but perhaps the most improbable win in the history of the ARCA Menards Series and one of the most memorable races in the history of Flat Rock Speedway.

Bradberry added a late season win at Winchester and finished third in championship points behind champion Bobby Bowsher and runner-up Frank Kimmel, earning 1994 ARCA Rookie of the Year honors. He went on to make 47 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1994 through 2002.

About the Dutch Boy 150

The ARCA Menards Series platform returns to Flat Rock Speedway for the first time since 2000 with the ARCA Menards Series East 150-lapper on Saturday, May 20. The ARCA DTS Drive Train Specialist Street Stocks and ARCA R&M Recyling Figure 8 divisions will also be in action. Advance tickets go on sale at FlatRockSpeedway.com starting on April 10. The race will streamed live on FloRacing starting at 7:30 pm ET.